Cable connector



Sept. 4, 1923.

R. O. WILLIAMS v CABLE CONNECTOR Filed March 21. 1921 SW 123 0 Mllfams vGhee/mu 30 will be very eflicient from a 35 are carried 45 are impartedto the cables.

Another object of the invention resides- Patented Sept. 4,;

ROY o. WILLIAMS, or COLUMBUS, OHIO.

CABLE CONNECTOR.

, Application filed March 21, 1921. Serial No. 453,923.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that Box 0. WILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Columbus,

has invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cable Connectors, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved cable connector, and consists inthe provis' 1 ion of a, connector which, may be efiiciently employedfor'the purpose of uniting the ad joining ends of a pair of continuing.electric conductors, or other equivalent cables, in a substantial andpositive manner so as to provide a connection of high mechanicalstrength, and to alsopermit of the uniting ofthe electrical conductorswithout the use of solder or the like and yetto secure a connectionbetween such conductors which standpoint of electrical conductivity andelimination of undue resistance.

In carrying out the invention use is made of a'connector of thecharacter aforesaid which includes a tubular metallic member having acentrally dispose d pivot rod pass- 1 ing therethrough, the said rodbeing provided with a pair of oppositely extending 'pive oted connectorarms, which terminate at their free ends in knife edges, between whichand the inner walls of the tubular member the ends of a pair ofadjoining cable'members are adapted to be inserted, whereby upon theactuation of binding screws, which by the tubularmember and are disposedfor engagement with the free ends of the arms, the said arm may beactuated so as"to be brought into firm frictional engagement with thecable ends to effectively 40 secure the latter in united relationshipwith the tubular member, the knife edges provided by said arm servin totightly grip the ends'of the cables an to prevent slipping thereof. whennormal tensile stresses in the provision of a cable connector which willbe of extremely simple construction yet positive and effective inoperation and to. enable one of the cable members to be disconnectedtherefrom without interfering with the connection between the connectorand the other cable.

For a further understanding of the invention, reference is to be had tothe following description and to'the accompanyin the county of Franklinand 5 State of Ohio,

wiew taken on the line 22 of Figure 1,

'ical strength and absence of trio current, the

otally carried by the extend longitudinally ing drawing, in whichsimilar characters of reference denote like and correspondin partsthroughout the several views thereo .i

In said drawing: Figure l is a vertical tional view taken through theimprovedconnector comprising the present invention, I*"igure 2 is avertical transverse sectional Figure 3 is a similar view taken along theline 3-3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the binding arms, r

' longitudinal sec- Figure 5 is a 'perspective view of the con- '70nector, the casing thereof being removed, and I Figure 6 is a detailview showing a modi fied form of the invention.

eferring more particularly to the details essentially of a structurewhereby the ends of a pair of cables may be efiiciently connectedtogether both as regards mechantance when the cables are employed aselectrical conductors. To this end, the connector, which is designatedgenerally by the numeral 1 includes as an essential element thereof atubular member or sleeve 2, which a is preferably formed from metal ofsuch a nature as to be capable of transmitting and permitting of theflow therethrough of elec-[ the invention, my improved connectorconsists said sleeve being in the I undue resis- 80 nature of a casingor container, and may be referred to in theseterms if desired. Arrangedto pass transversely and ordinarily horizontally through the sleeve is apivot pin 3, which is disposed substantially midway of the length of thesleeve and is adapted to .be suitably retained in its applied U positionin connection withthe sleeve in any desired fixed manner.

pin and disposed to sleeve is a pair of oppositely extending pivotallymounted connector arms 5. ,These arms are shown in detail in Figure 4and are formed to include apertured and'relatively enlarged inner otallyreceived by the pin 3, in order that said arms will be permitted tooscillateto a limited extent within ,the confines -ofthe bore 4:. Theouter ends of these arms are Arranged to be pivof the bore 4 of the ends6, which are pivme somewhat attenuated, and are formed to inthe lowersurfaces thereof knife which are utilized to enhance the,

clude on edges 7,

of the cables will be gripped and thus re-' tained in fastened relationwith the con' nector as a whole.

In order to operate the arms 5 so as to maintain the latter in holdingengagement with the cable ends, the connector has its sleeve formed toinclude a plurality 'of threaded bores 9, which are situated immediatelyadjacent to the outer ends of the arms 5 and the said bores 9 areadapted to receive set screws or their equivalents 10, which have theirinner ends terminated so as to en age with the upper edges of the arms5. llanifestly, by tightening the screws 10, through the use of anyordinary implement, a very great pressure may be brought to bear uponthe outer ends of the arms, which will be forced into secure engagementwith the cable ends so as to positively and securely retain such ends inunited relationship with the connector. As shown in Figure 1 the underportions of the arms are provided with convex depressions 11. Thesedepressions are adapted to receive the extreme ends of the cables 8,when the latter are tightly gripped by the arms 5. It will be apparentthat when the arms are forced into biting engagement with the ends ofthe cables, the latter will be slightly distorted so that the extremeends thereof will become enlarged, the depressions 11 allowing for suchunnatural enlargement of the cable ends and in this manner to enable thearms to exercise their greatest binding pressure without receiving undueresistance on the part of the cable ends. Also, by enlarging the cableends the mechanical grip afforded by the connector will be augmented.

It will thus be observed that the present invention provides meanswhereby the cable ends will be securely united and that not onlymechanical strength will be present in a large degree but also a unionof high electrical efiiciency is present. The device may be simply andquickly operated by means of the set screws 10, which will be capable ofholding their adjusted positions incooperation with the arms 5. Ifdesired an insulator casing 13 may surrouhd the sleeve 2, in order topermit the latter to be readily handled when current is passingtherethrough, the said casing also serving to prevent loss of adjustmenton the part of the screws 10. It will be observed that the arms 5 arecapable of being selectively actuated,

thus allowing the cables to be independently race 23a connected ordisconnected without affecting the remaining cable or cables.- It willbe understood that the invention may include means whereby two or moreof the cables may be connected without departing from the principle setforth. Also, if desired the oppositely extending arms may be integrallyformed as shown in Figure 6. In this construction the arm 14: is of onepiece construction and is pivotally mounted as at 15, the knife edges 16thereof being located at its opposite ends and on opposite surfaces ofthe arm. In this form of the'invention a single set screw 17 willsuflice in effecting the operationof the arm.

In view of the forgoing it is believed that the operation, constructionand advantages of the invention will be readily understood by thoseversed in the art, and therefore a more extended explanation has beenaccordingly omitted.

What is claimed is:

l. A cable connector comprising a casing having a longitudinallyextending opening provided therein, a pair of connector arms arranged tobe positioned within said opening and having the inner adjoining endsthereof pivotally connected with substantially the intermediate portionof said casing, the outer ends of said arms being situated foroscillation within said opening, whereby the ends of a pair of cablemembers may be positioned between the outer ends of said arms and thewalls of said opening, and manually operated pressure exerting meanscarried by said casing and disposed for engagement with the outer endsof said arms to force the latter into frictional gripping relationshipwith the ends. of said cable members.

2. A cable connector comprising a sleeve, a pair of oppositely extendingarms arranged Within said sleeve, means carried by said sleeve andserving as a pivotal mounting for the inner ends of said arms, the outerends of said arms being situated for rocking movement within said sleeveand to be capable of permitting the ends of a pair of cable members tobe inserted therebetween and the inner Wall of said sleeve, andindependently mounted selectively operable binding screws carried bysaid sleeve and cooperative with the outer ends of said arms to maintainthe latter in gripping relationship with said cable ends.

said sleeve and capable of engaging with said arms to force engagementwith the cable ends.

4:. I 5 of arms pivotally mounted and 0 ends t n a cable connector, asleeve, a pair hereof and the inner Wall of said sleeve the latter intoholdingbetween the outer the adjoining ends of a pair of cable members,the outer ends of said arms being formed to include knife edges, andmanually 10 operated means for forcing said edges into grippingrelationship With said cable ends. In testimony whereof I afiix mysignature. ROY O. WILLIAMS.

